Stats and stuff (Miami game - ACCT)...

[gary-7]

...and my apologies for the late post. Damned noon game came on during my classes, so I waited to watch fresh on replay. The good news is I have the benefit of replay.

stuff
- First, I always worry about nooners --- this kind anyway --- but we woke up quickly enough to force our will. Glad that's done with.

- While I thought Syracuse would've been the easier out, I really wanted --- and I think we needed --- it to be Miami, just for reestablishing our mojo after that gawd-awful stinker down there. And we manned up and took on their bumper-pool tactics and were generally tough enough with the ball. Good psychological win!

- And Hot-Damn, did we play some defense today! And let me double-down on that: Hot-Damn did Joel Berry play some defense today! I have a feeling JB was residually pissed at the way Miami's burly Guards mugged him down there, and today Little Dog went after them like they were mailmen carrying fire hydrants. Bilas was spot on --- Miami couldn't even get an offense started half the time.

- Was a tad worried as JJ struggled early and was forcing drives and passes, but once he calmed down and let the game start coming to him Buckets was back in business.

- Arrright... I hafta get this out. Everyone here should know by now that I hold Roy in the highest regard and in fact I think he's the best active coach in college basketball. That being said... I hope Roy yelled at himself at halftime, because the last 2 minutes of the first half may have been his worst coaching spell in like, ever. You just cannot have 7th at PG in those end situations. OK, yeah, I know JB had 2 fouls, but you have other options --- Stilman or Nate. We had what amounted to an 8 pt turnaround and got them right back into the game. And last possession with 20 seconds or so left, for pete's sake, call the damned use-it-or-lose-it time-out and get JB back in for the last shot. Moreover, and I know my friend Dave and others may disagree, but IMO the 7th at PG thing just needs to go away for the tournament. Hopefully next season Roy will move him off the ball and the kid can grow and flourish. OK, sorry, that's my rant du jour...

stats
- Again, good defense. Miami held to 37% FGs. They had the exact same number of shots as we did (53) and made 9 fewer. So there ya go.

- We outrebounded them 36-29, although they edged us on the Offensive Glass, but as Bilas said, we were making more shots.

- We blew too many Assists (17) but 21 Assists on 28 made FGs is sharing the basketball!

- Now to my favorite numbers: FTs FTs FTs! We were 15/18 (83%), and moreover, 11/11 in the first half... and this in a game where JB didn't get to the line!

- The ESPN crew called it right --- we were slowly steam-rolling them and our transition game picked up momentum as we went. 10 Fast Break and 29 (!!!) Secondary Break pts against Miami is damned strong. And BTW, these numbers are correct.

- Welcome to the Isaiah Hicks show. Again, as Bilas said correctly, Miami has nobody who can guard him without fouling (and at least an adequate number of thise were called today). Carried us early and finished with 19 and 6, including 9-9 FTs.

- Quietly solid game for Kennedy with very solid defense, and good contributions from Luke and Tony. Speaking of Luke, how cool is it to have a Stretch-4 who can bomb a few 3s?

- Nate made an important early 3 (whew!), and I loved Roy calling that play for him there. We need more offense from him going forward, and he played a solid game overall on both ends despite one burn on defense. And Theo made some uncharacteristic forced passes, but he still managed 6 Assists, and gets extra kudos for keeping a straight face after that 3-pt pass, er... shot .

- Finally, Joel F***ing Berry. Dog brought it from the get-go, and his strong line 11 pts, 5 Assists, 4 Rebounds, 3 Steals (and caused 2 more Miami TOs) was the engine in that steam-roller and made our transition game go despite Miami's best efforts to ugly it up.

Again, strong first game and effort in a nooner. Now we hafta face the stank-ass dookies again. I was honestly expecting it to be Louisville, and maybe the guys were too. dook's got nuthin to lose, so let's hope we come out not takin' any nonsense, get at least two decent zebras, and stromp these rats!

 

[dadika13]

I hope Roy yelled at himself at halftime, because the last 2 minutes of the first half may have been his worst coaching spell in like, ever. You just cannot have 7th at PG in those end situations.

Good recap gary. Agree with almost all of it, but for the sake of good discussion, I'll point out the sentence I don't agree with.

First, you couldn't have JB in that game with 2 fouls last 2 minutes when we have a lead. I think we both agree there.

As for 7th vs. Nate/Stillman, I think Roy is still figuring out if he can trust 7th, as crazy as that sounds on March 9th. We've got to know if we're in an NCAA tourney situation where JB has 2, can 7th get the job done? It's been 50/50 all year and I think Roy is trying to get him some confidence heading into the NCAA's. I can't blame him for that.

If 7th did well, we'd be applauding him. I like that Roy trusted the freshman in a game where we had the lead. If we were down 5, I think he would have gone to Nate.

Other than that, agree on all points. Love the kind of defense we're starting to play heading into the tournament. We play that level of D, we get back to the final four.

 

[mikeirbyusa]

I'm with dadika. Might have been good to have Nate out there with him, but all-all, Roy knows what he iss doing.

Proud of JB and Hicks and all the boys for that matter. Great TEAM effort.

 

[Ozheelfan]

Great recap Gary. I also got to watch on replay - makes it less nerve wracking when you know the result!

I agree with Dadika about the end of the first half. it's almost like Roy was using the stretch into the break as a teaching/evaluating moment with the confidence his starters would get the job done no matter what in the second.
If that is the case it was a ballsy move!

Love the fact the zebras let Isaiah play... there were a couple of defensive plays where, if the game was elsewhere (like H.I.S) he'd have be whistled, but the refs let the play flow and Isaiah seemed to visibly grow more confident without the foul monkey on his back.

My takeaway from Isaiah's stats in the last two games: what a senior year he's missed out on, mostly due to fouls! Still, that's in the rear-view and I hope he can keep up the current output for his last 8 UNC appearances.

 

[dadika13]

My takeaway from Isaiah's stats in the last two games: what a senior year he's missed out on, mostly due to fouls! Still, that's in the rear-view and I hope he can keep up the current output for his last 8 UNC appearances.

My god...if Hicks plays like this in the tournament, is there anyone that can beat us? This has me very excited.

 

[gary-7]

As for 7th vs. Nate/Stillman, I think Roy is still figuring out if he can trust 7th, as crazy as that sounds on March 9th. We've got to know if we're in an NCAA tourney situation where JB has 2, can 7th get the job done? It's been 50/50 all year and I think Roy is trying to get him some confidence heading into the NCAA's. I can't blame him for that.

Well, like I said, I figured I would get some disagreement on that point, so fair enough... but also to be fair, it's not the first time I've mentioned it so I'll stick by it. Letting 7th give JB that pre-under-12 or pre-under-8 blow in the first half? Fine. But I think you know as well as I that games are sometimes won or lost in the crucial time situations --- i.e., the last 2 minutes of the half, first 2 minutes oif the second half, etc, etc.... The ACC Tourney --- against a team that stomped us in Coral Gables --- is just no time for experimentation.

And BTW: to amend my post we actually had a potential 9 point turnaround and in less time. We were up 12 with 1:15 and things went to total clusterf***. My point is Roy has an ace-in-the-hole with Stilman White. He's not gonna turn the ball over, he'll get it to the right place, won't take it into no-man's land, and can knock down an open look. That final 2+ was the perfect situation for Stilman. And moreover, when we have the ball with 20 seconds up 7 and things going awry, call the dadgummed timeout, Roy!! Put JB back in and draw up a play with no chance of an offensive foul. Unfortunately he didn't do that. So instead of getting a good look to go up 9, we lose an awful turnover and run-out and it's down to 5.

I'll go ahead and say it again: My position is that we will have a better chance of achieving our goals if Stilman gets JB's backup minutes going forward. Fire away folks .

 

[Littlejon]

I think it was pretty smart to put 7th in there, personally. Think about it this way: First ACC tournament game in the game where you have the entire second half to play. Why not put the kid in there and let him get the butterflies out, see what it is like to be in this environment and know that there is only so much damage he could do.

Now, if he sees what it is like and performs, great. Either way, he gets a brief taste of what is to come so when the NCAA tournament comes around, perhaps you can count on him for a few good minutes when you might need him more. The more comfortable he gets in these games, the more we can use him in the NCAA's and the more rest JB and Nate get to have that motor running at top performance.

 

[gauchoheel]

I see both sides. I wouldn't play Seventh in the NCAA Tournament right now, but I think it's great he's continued to get some experience when possible. It was a nice, low pressure environment to get his feet wet in.

I also agree about Stillman. I wish he got a bit more burn instead of Britt.

 

[FlaTarHeel]

How can I see a replay? I missed the entire 1st half

 

[Bubspub88]

Most of their offensive rebounds were off loose balls they either out hustled us to or recovered a fortunate bounce. They (Miami) were more focused on guys getting back to prevent a fast break than crashing the glass.

 

[Hark_The_Sound_2010]

And moreover, when we have the ball with 20 seconds up 7 and things going awry, call the dadgummed timeout, Roy!! Put JB back in and draw up a play with no chance of an offensive foul. Unfortunately he didn't do that. So instead of getting a good look to go up 9, we lose an awful turnover and run-out and it's down to 5.

Couldn't agree more. I think a TO, substitution, and drawing up a play is the right move there.

I'll somewhat give Roy a pass on this one (like he needs it from me), since it was the first game in the ACCT that we obviously eventually cruised to an easy W, but I really hope he doesn't pull that move in the NCAAT. Sure it might be beneficial for 7ths long term development, but March isn't the time to be playing for next year.

 

[Archer2]

As Gary stated, we have an ace in the hole in Stilman, a heady PG who doesn't make mistakes. Why not use him? And I'm all for taking that use it or lose it TO and running a set play to finish the half. 7th is still too helter skelter to be in at that crucial juncture in the game. By all means, let him have some burn here and there to get his feet wet, so to speak. Just not at that particular point when we had a chance to go into the half up by double digits.

BTW, does anybody ever remember a game where Roy used all of his TO's? Ever?

 

[mikeirbyusa]

BTW, does anybody ever remember a game where Roy used all of his TO's? Ever?

Yep, there have been more than you think.

 

[Archer2]

I'll have to take your word for that, Mike. I certainly don't remember any.

 

[TarHeelNation11]

How can I see a replay? I missed the entire 1st half

WatchESPN (ESPN3)

 

[dadika13]

As Gary stated, we have an ace in the hole in Stilman, a heady PG who doesn't make mistakes. Why not use him? And I'm all for taking that use it or lose it TO and running a set play to finish the half. 7th is still too helter skelter to be in at that crucial juncture in the game. By all means, let him have some burn here and there to get his feet wet, so to speak. Just not at that particular point when we had a chance to go into the half up by double digits.

BTW, does anybody ever remember a game where Roy used all of his TO's? Ever?

See but my argument is that it wasn't THAT critical of a moment. We had the lead and an entire 2nd half to play against a team that simply is just not as good as us.

Think about it this way, if 7th played well, now Roy can look at his bench a little differently in tournament play. Now, well, it will likely be Nate who has his own limitations.

Definitely both sides to this argument and it's a good one. I'm curious to see if 7th gets another shot if we are in a situation like that again this season.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

I have no problem with 7th being in either. If he is going to be a PG then he needs to play at point! It would do his development harm to switch him back and forth when he is already struggling to make the switch. As far as the game situation, let's not forget that 7th had played much steadier in his last few outings and Roy probably expected that to continue! I love Stlman, but against big, strong AND quick guards he is a liability on D at times and this might have been part of Roy's thought process. Also, how can we laugh at ratty not playing his peeps and suggest Roy play his less? Miami was gassed in the second half proving Roy got it right! This is NOT preparation for next year; it is clearly preparing ALL the troops for the NCAAT! (I would rather this be the focus anyhow!)

For once I agree about the TO thing! This would have been a perfect time to call the disposable one and at least settle his troops if he wasn't going to sub. Roy expects his boys, especially his on-court leaders, to figure it out for themselves and they did! However, why expect a Cheetah to change its spots? Especially a Cheetah that catches his prey 80% of the time!

Go Tar Heels!

 

[gary-7]

How can I see a replay? I missed the entire 1st half

Here ya go.